chatter about olfactive, visual and taste bud experiences in italy and beyond

Monday, July 24, 2006

SUMMER SPRITZER

lately there is a lot of talk about the heat and about thirst quenching salvations, i.e. pimm’s, rose’ and iced latte’s. we don’t really have a strict summer drink rule in our house. it just has to be cold, refreshing and have some sort of alcohol in it! however there is usually a dominating theme to our summer drinks. last year it was pimm’s and, i have to admit that, vodka tonic is a year round staple. the theme this year is the venetian spritz. traditionally spritz is an austrian cocktail. when the austrian’s occupied venice, they introduced this cocktail to venetians which has become something you can get anywhere and everywhere in venice. in fact, venetians aren’t big on cocktails, and generally won’t serve up anything other than a glass of wine or a spritz! the base of a true spritz is red or still white wine and seltzer water. the venetians stick to the white wine and add a choice of aperol, bitter campari, select or cynar. in some areas of the veneto they skip the seltzer water and still wine all together and simply use prosecco - a sparkling white wine. and that’s how we serve ours up, with the addition of ice and a green olive. you can also add a slice of lemon, lime or orange. we use lemon and lime, mostly because we always have them both in the house. this spritz goes down like water, so beware: you just might find yourself wobbling home! but in venice that isn’t a problem. since they don’t have cars, they walk home! i suggest you do the same........

I was in Venice this year and noticed people drinking the spritz cocktail and had no idea what they were. One had a twist of lemon, one had an olive, strange orange color and bubbly...what were they? At the end of my trip, I asked my American friend who was living in southern Italy and she had her son find out from his local bar. He said it was made with Aperol but wasn't sure about the rest so I brought back a bottle, thinking I would mix it with soda water. Prosecco sounds much better! Molto bene!